Removing plaster does sound painful! I'm guessing someone else will be repairing the wall so you won't have to worry about all of that.

We did a cutout today from under a timber floor of a shearing shed, which was relatively easy. I actually quite like cutouts, if I lived a bit closer I'd come over and give you a hand.

I'm guessing you don't like having to pull the wall apart and the large number of bees flying around everywhere. I've never used one but a bee vac would probably be very helpful in this situation. You could also consider doing a trap out. They take a while but it might be easier and the owners wouldn't have to worry about getting their wall fixed. Once the bees have all left and you have let them rob the honey out, their entry to the wall can be blocked up and the owners shouldn't have any more problem.

Wall trapouts like this can actually be quite easy as, typically, they lay their comb down nice and straight which makes it much easier to put in a frame than comb from, say, a compost bin... saying that though i do these sort of things on occassion.

easiest way to do it is to cut down the studs either side of the hive and take only that section out to start - if you can figure out where th noggins are then use that as a point to cut across - makes it easier to repair and also easier on you - just use a really sharp stanley knife - should work well

Cutout contract signed...checkplaster off... checkbig mess...checkbees building a bigger hive than you expected...check100,000 bees flying round the house...checknearly 100kg of honey and wax....check4 new hives full of bees check....

Well i did the extract...it took two nearly two days (nine hour sat and 6 hours sun) due to the size and location of the hive.

I actually had built a bee vac 6mths ago. this job would have been impossible without it! NO Question!!!

I considered a trap out but opted against it due to the possibility of wax moth and hive beetle sliming the comb in the mean time.

The vertical part of the hive approx 2.5m high and not very wide, it contained 3 and sometime 4 combs.

The queen was hiding down here, i couldnt access her untill sunday....i knew becasue the first three boxes of bees i took home were god dam wild when i dropped them into their new home....i have never been chased quite like that before.....its was like a cartoon...a big trail of bees chasing after me.

Last remaining cluster of bees on freshly drawn comb, which contained the queen. this was the second part of the hive approx 3.5m deep and very tight. i had to remove all of the comb and mess before i could even see this cluster.

yes it was...i'm seriously reconsidering if i will do cut outs next year.

sooo time consuming and messy! ehh!

:)

got one to do here, its in an old electrical cable spool, i placed a box on top with a hole in the base hoping they would come up and start using the box but it dosnt look like its going to happen, WOMEN !

Anyway, can't you just cut all the comb away from the spool? It sounds a lot more portable than a wall...but pictures would help to explain it better :)Just on that spool topic...every one of us here has mown the 1/2 acre lawn of an old sparkie in town, who uses an electrical cable spool to cover the hole he's sunk for a big light for the tennis court he's been going to make for 20 years, and every one has absent mindedly moved that spool and fallen up to our chest in the hole!